Method for Production of Frozen Untapped Young Coconut Water Inside Its Carved Tender Coconut Meat

ABSTRACT

A process for producing frozen untapped young coconut water inside its carved young tender meat. The packaged frozen young untapped coconut water inside its very own carved young tender coconut meat comprises two freezing steps wherein the prepackaged product is frozen before packaging and sealing in a packaging cup and frozen again in a standard freezer.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part (CIP) and claims priorityfrom U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/799,658, entitled “Method forproduction of frozen untapped young coconut water inside its carvedtender coconut meat”, filed on Mar. 13, 2013. The benefit under 35 USC §119(e) of the United States provisional application is hereby claimed,and the aforementioned application is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/799,658 claims priority from U.S.patent application Ser. No. 61/663,523, entitled “Method for productionof frozen untapped young coconut water inside its carved tender coconutmeat”, filed on Jun. 22, 2012. The benefit under 35 USC § 119(e) of theUnited States provisional application is hereby claimed, and theaforementioned application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This application generally relates to a method for producing frozenuntapped young coconut water inside its carved young tender coconut meatand the resultant product.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many commercial food products require fresh or fresh-like products foruse in producing such products; the preparation consists of a processwherein the product is frozen at a suitable temperature, packaged andsealed. Frozen food products are very desirable to the consumer sincethey can be stored for long periods of time in a frozen state.

In addition, when the consumer eats a frozen product, upon thawing, itis desired to have a method of preservation that has tastecharacteristics similar to a fresh product, without preservatives butwhich can be stored for extended periods of time. It is further knownthat products can be flash frozen or referred to as blast freezing in anattempt to preserve or improve that is close enough to a fresh-likeproduct by optimizing method for freezing a product by mechanicalfreezing.

Young coconut liquid endosperm or young coconut water is known to eithercanned with coconut jelly tidbits and polycoated drink-boxed both ofwhich are preserved in room temperature or frozen in polypropylene (PP)or Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic containers, for consumptionby consumers. Additionally, young coconut solid endosperm or youngtender coconut meat sometimes referred to as young coconut flesh orsimply coconut jelly is usually available grated in PP or PET plastic,vacuum-packed and frozen. While these current methods are well suited topreserve young coconut water and young coconut meat there is no currentmethod to produce frozen untapped young coconut water enclosed andintact inside its own carved young and tender coconut meat.

The popularity of young coconut water has led to a desire to producefrozen young coconut water, untapped, untouched and preserved intact onits own confined core by sculpting the coconut jelly. In view of theforegoing, this desire has not been attained, to date, because anaturally young coconut liquid endosperm frozen inside its own naturalsolid endosperm has not been offered to consumers without the separationof the two constituent parts that complement each other. When you setaside and preserve the coconut liquid endosperm from the coconut solidendosperm, the flavor of the end product can be lessened in fullness bythe presence of artificial preservatives and stabilizers. The productcan have an artificial or off flavor not like that of the natural youngcoconut.

For these reasons, it is desired to have a method for producing frozenyoung coconut water, that when thawed, has the taste of fresh-likecharacteristics.

DEFINITIONS

“Blast Freezing” is a preservation method that impede microbial growthinclude refrigeration and freezing, hence, right after washing andrinsing the sculpted coconut meat the product is pasteurized byblanching the surface of the meat under mild heat treatment, and thenpreservation such as blast freezing by individually quick freezing (IQF)for product stability during storage and distribution.

The term “tender” though a relative term pertains to the young coconutmeat's age or time frame of “maturity” for harvesting between the 9thand 10th month or between the 40th week to the 43rd week after fruitsemerge. Coconut meat harvested at this time is fully formed and for thispurpose still soft in order to be carved out of the shell using acarving/sculpting tool derived from the alpha-keratin buffalo horn,thinned, sharpened and pliable. Carving tools with similar propertiescan also be used. As a result, any time before this timeframe is notpossible to carve coconut meat from the shell because before the 9thmonth or the 40th week, the coconut meat/solid endosperm is certainlytoo thin and without doubt too soft for the purpose of sculpting

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The process relates to a method for producing frozen untapped youngcoconut water contained inside the carefully and precisely carved youngtender coconut flesh, that upon thawing, have retained its natural tastecharacteristics similar to fresh product. Blast freezing is the mostpreferred method of preservation. The blast freezing method oftentimescalled flash or quick freezing includes the step of quick freezing theselected young tender carved coconut meat with the coconut water intactafter removal from the coconut husk and shell.

In one aspect, the method for producing frozen untapped young coconutwater encased inside the precisely carved young tender coconut meat isinitiated by obtaining properly selected green raw young coconuts. Thefleshy white, soft endosperm is then separated from the coconut's outerlayer exocarp and middle layer mesocarp or husk and endocarp, the shell.In particular, the coconut husk and shell are dissociated to collect thetender, gelatinous coconut meat encapsulating the coconut water.

In another aspect, the product is mechanically frozen. The freezingsteps can be accomplished using a blast freezer and a standard freezer.As such, any of a variety of methods can be used to freeze the coconutwater. Preferably, the initial freezing step is blast freezing. Thepackaging step can be done before or after freezing. Preferably, theproduct is packaged after freezing. The packaged frozen product is thenstored in standard mechanical freezer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a partof the specification, illustrate the present invention and, togetherwith the description, further serve to explain the principles of theinvention and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to makeand use the invention.

FIG. 1 shows taste distinctions of 60 carved raw young coconuts using ablast freezer and 60 carved raw young coconuts using a standard freezerin terms of sweetness of young coconut water or liquid endosperm afterallowing defrosting at ambient temperature. The blast frozen coconutshad more concentrated sweetness than the regular standard freezer; and

FIG. 2 shows texture distinctions of 60 carved raw young coconuts whenusing a blast freezer and 60 carved raw young coconuts when using astandard freezer in terms of how firm, turgid and how mushy or soft theyoung coconut meat or young coconut solid endosperm has become afterallowing to defrost at ambient temperature. It was noticeable among theblast frozen coconuts which had a more turgid texture than the clammierand mushier texture from the slow-static freezer

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description of the invention of exemplaryembodiments of the invention, reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings (where like numbers represent like elements), which form a parthereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific exemplaryembodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodimentsare described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the invention, but other embodiments may be utilized andlogical, mechanical, electrical, and other changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. The followingdetailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense,and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appendedclaims.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it isunderstood that the invention may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known structures and techniques knownto one of ordinary skill in the art have not been shown in detail inorder not to obscure the invention. Referring to the figures, it ispossible to see the various major elements constituting the apparatus ofthe present invention.

The present process relates to a method for producing unique frozenuntapped young coconut water encased in its own carved tender youngcoconut meat. The method includes the steps of breaking up the threeouter layers of the coconut: exocarp, mesocarp, and endocarp to obtainthe solid endosperm containing the liquid endosperm.

The method includes the steps of flash freezing, packaging and storingin standard freezer. The resultant frozen coconut will have preferrednatural taste characteristics when thawed. Additionally, the presentmethod relates to the resultant frozen coconut product.

Any of a variety of coconuts can be used with the present method. Thecoconut meat (endosperm) starts to form at about the 6th month afterflowering. The coconut meat is completely formed between the 9th and10th month but the shell does not fully hardened until the 12th monthwhen it is fully ripened and fully matured. At the 9th-10th month theendosperm in a green young coconut is softer and more gelatinous readyfor harvest than that in a mature coconut—in such a manner that it issometimes referred as coconut jelly or young coconut flesh. The youngcoconuts should all be fresh and immature by the 10th month in order toensure a carefully and precisely carved endosperm and to have a moredesirable end-product taste and texture characteristics.

The term “tender” though a relative term pertains to the young coconutmeat's age or time frame of “maturity” for harvesting between the 9^(th)and 10^(th) month or between the 40^(th) week to the 43^(rd) week afterfruits emerge. Coconut meat harvested at this time is fully formed andfor this purpose still soft in order to be carved out of the shell usinga carving/sculpting tool derived from the alpha-keratin buffalo horn,thinned, sharpened and pliable. Carving tools with similar propertiescan also be used.

As a result, any time before this timeframe is not possible to carvecoconut meat from the shell because before the 9^(th) month or the40^(th) week, the coconut meat/solid endosperm is certainly too thin andwithout doubt too soft for the purpose of sculpting out of the shell,consequently spilling the coconut water in the process.

On the other hand, after the 10^(th) month or the 43^(rd) week, thecoconut meat has hardened accordingly. Thus, it is by all means notpossible to carve out the coconut meat from the shell using the flexibleand thinned carving tool.

To more clearly define the operation and procedure of this method, thefollowing description is provided. The process is preferably initiatedby removing the first two layers of the coconut, the outer layer exocarpand the middle layer fiber mesocarp also called coir make up the husk.The immature, not fully hardened shell endocarp will be exposed once theexocarp and mesocarp are removed. The white soft coconut meat orendosperm protected by the shell or endocarp is carved out of theimmature shell by creating about 2 cm circumferential opening from theendocarp to expose the endosperm using commercially pliable alphakeratins. Once the tender young coconut endosperm containing the intactcoconut water is obtained, it is thoroughly washed using cold runningwater. Such a step will preferably remove impurities such as remnants ofmesocarp and endocarp.

After fully rinsing in cold running water and then blanching the surfaceof the exposed white, tender, gelatinous coconut flesh, the pre-frozenproduct is gently packed into the perforated blast freezing tray looselyto slide the tray into the blast freezer toward the cold air outletfans. The blast freezer door will then be closed and secured. The nextstep is to set the controls on the blast freezing unit to −35 degreesCelsius (−31 degrees Fahrenheit). The internal fan will then be turnedon to medium speed, approximately 10 feet per second or 3 meters persecond. Attaining −22 degrees Celsius (−7.6 degrees Fahrenheit) within25 minutes, the frozen coconut will then be removed and sealed in apackaging container cup and place into a mechanical cold storage thatmaintains temperature ranging from about −25 degrees Celsius (−13degrees Fahrenheit) to about −20 degrees Celsius (−4 degree Fahrenheit).

The freezing steps of the product involve mechanical freezing: blastfreezer and standard freezer. It is most preferred on the initial step,however, to blast freeze, the young tender coconut endosperm containingthe coconut water. Blast freezing or flash freezing will involveexposing the solid endosperm-enclosing coconut water to temperaturesequal to approximately −35 degrees Celsius (in refrigerant R-404A) forabout 25 minutes.

For mechanical blast freezing, refrigerant R-404A may be used. Blastfreezers may be purchased from any of a variety of commercial providers.Flash freezing is crucial to the present process because it produces afresh product. It is believed that blast freezing prevents coconut waterin the endosperm and the endosperm itself of the coconut from expandingcalled crystallization and thereby breaking the cell wall. Any methodthat maintains the cell wall during freezing may be used.

The resultant blast frozen young coconut water contained in theendosperm of the coconut will have outstanding taste characteristics,will have a texture, in particular, when thawed, similar to a freshproduct.

After being initially blast frozen, the product is inserted into apackaging container cup and sealed for storage. The sealed packagingcontainer cup containing the frozen young coconut water enclosed on itsown young tender coconut meat can be stored in a standard mechanicalcold storage at a temperature ranging from about −25 degrees Celsius(−13 degrees Fahrenheit) to about −20 degrees Celsius (−4 degreeFahrenheit). The frozen product can then be stored for an extendedperiod (e.g. about 26 to 39 weeks) prior to being thawed forconsumption.

The product is allowed to thaw or temper for about 6 hours at ambientconditions. Thawing of the packaged frozen young coconut watersurrounded by its very own young tender coconut meat is also conductedby placing the packaged product into a standard refrigerator for 12hours where temperatures stay below 4.44 degrees Celsius (40 degreesFahrenheit). Thawing or defrosting slowly is conducted in order toachieve a temperature and texture suitable for serving the food productto a consumer. For example, a frozen product may be consumed at atemperature ranging from 4.44 degrees Celsius (40 degrees Fahrenheit) orbelow although other temperatures may be suitable to effectivelydefrost.

After thawing, the food product may be held at refrigerated temperaturefor a desired period of time, for example, to accommodate food serviceholding of the food product. The defrosted young coconut water insideits own young tender coconut meat can be kept in a refrigeratedtemperature for a period of 14 days.

EXAMPLES

The process will now be described with reference to the following nonlimiting examples. These examples were conducted in order to determinesensory taste and texture differences between two mechanically staticfrozen samples during initial freezing utilizing a blast freezer on onebatch and the resultant products using a standard freezer on the other.

Example 1

Sixty carved young tender coconut water-contained coconut meats wereobtained. After inspection, the pre-frozen coconuts were washed, rinsedin cold running water and then blanched. The coconuts were placed on atray and blast frozen. A blast freezing device manufactured by CoolaireConsolidated, Inc. was used. The coconuts were contacted and blastfrozen having a temperature of −35 degrees Celsius (−31 degreesFahrenheit) for 25 minutes. The blast frozen coconuts were then packagedand stored.

Example 2

Sixty young coconut water-contained in carved young tender coconut meatswere obtained. After inspection, the pre-frozen coconuts were washed andrinsed in cold running water and then blanched afterward. The group wasfrozen with a mechanically slow freeze-static regular standard freezerat 17.78 degree Celsius (0 degree Fahrenheit). A General Electricupright freezer was used. The regularly standard frozen coconuts werethen packaged and stored.

Products were obtained and tested as follows:

A. Young Coconut Water-Contained Tender Coconut Meat-Carved-StaticFreezer:

1. Select 60 same ages' young coconuts,

2. Carved-out of exocarp, mesocarp and endocarp,

3. Wash, rinse and blanch,

4. Tray up and freeze the coconut in −18 degrees Celsius (0 degreesFahrenheit) static air for 5 hours, packaged and stored, and

5. Thaw and taste for taste and texture comparison.

B. Young Coconut Water-Contained Tender Coconut Meat-Carved-BlastFreezer

1. Select 60 same ages' young coconuts,

2. Carved-out of exocarp, mesocarp and endocarp,

3. Wash, rinse and blanch,

4. Tray up and freeze the coconut in −35 degrees Celsius (−31 degreesFahrenheit) circulating air for 25 minutes, packaged and stored, and

5. Thaw and taste for taste and texture comparison.

The packaged frozen young coconut water encapsulated in its own coconutflesh or meats were allowed to defrost for 12 hours at ambientconditions. The following observations were made regarding the aboveproducts and are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The blast frozen coconuts had amore concentrated sweetness than the regular standard freezer resultantproducts (FIG. 1). In some embodiments, a clear texture distinction(FIG. 2) was noticeable among the blast frozen coconuts which had a moreturgid texture than the clammier and mushier texture from theslow-static freezer. As can be seen the products frozen with blastfreezer were superior.

The previous embodiments and examples included a method ofpasteurization by blanching the coconut meat before packaging. In thenext embodiments, a second round of pasteurization after each product isindividually wrapped by way of High Pressure Processing (HPP) occurs.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the blanching andblast freezing steps are omitted and replaced by High PressureProcessing (HPP). In this embodiment, the process of mild heat treatmentby blanching coconut meat after sculpting is omitted. The process ofindividually quick freezing (IQF) the product before packaging isomitted. Therefore, after sculpting from the shell the coconut meat isthen washed, packaged, sealed, and in-package pasteurized by highpressure processing (HPP)-treated for 3 minutes. The HPP treatedpackaged product is then refrigerated between 2 degree C. to 4 degree C.(36 F to 39 F) under normal refrigerated conditions of storage anddistribution with a shelf life of 120 days.

In another embodiment, the blanching process continues in addition tothe IQF or blast freezing process. After the coconut meat isindividually quick frozen, each product is then packaged, sealed, andin-package pasteurized by high pressure processing (HPP)-treated for 3minutes. The HPP treated packaged product is then refrigerated between 2degree C. to 4 degree C. (36 F to 39 F) under normal refrigeratedconditions of storage and distribution with a shelf life of 120 days.

HPP operational pressures are at the level of 400-600 MPa and employedat ambient or mild temperatures in a single continuous treatment. Forthe HPP treatment, the vacuum-packed young coconut meat containingcoconut water is deposed in carrier and either manually or automaticallyloaded into the High Pressure vessel.

The HPP pasteurization inactivates the vegetative enzymes, as well asany present pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms to achieve reductionof 5-log units for a short period of time from 3-5 minutes. This levelof treatment retains the natural flavor and nutrients of the youngcoconut meat and water.

Enzyme and microbial inactivation and preservation of the young coconutwater enclosed in young coconut meat by HPP application aim to prolongthe shelf-life to 120 days in an undisturbed cooling chain.

In still another embodiment, the manual, labor intensive shucking andde-shelling of the young coconut using sharps (machete) and thinned,sharpened buffalo horn by removing the exocarp (outer layer), mesocarp(white husk) and the full or partial endocarp (coconut shell) to obtainthe young coconut meat enclosing the water is replaced by a mechanizedand simplified version for commercial process optimization using HPP.HPP shucking reduces the need for manual shucking.

The exocarp and mesocarp are still manually machete-removed, and thenthe exposed full or partial endocarp (young coconut shell) containingthe young coconut meat and water is manually arranged or deposed incarrier and either manually or automatically loaded into the HighPressure vessel for shucking at pressures between 250-500 MPa for 2 to 5minutes at temperatures between 1 and 35 Celsius.

This method utilizes high pressure processing by exposing the dehuskedcoconut, preferably young green coconut between the 9th and 10th monthor from the 40th week to the 43rd week, applying pressure to the coconutshell in the range of 10,000 psi to about 100,000 psi, preferably 80,000psi , to effectively detach from the testa lining the outer part of thecoconut meat (solid endosperm) that separate from the inner part of thecoconut shell (full or partial endocarp), for a time period of about 1to about 20 minutes, preferably about 3 minutes at a temperature in therange of refrigerated to ambient temperatures of 0 degree Celsius toroom temperature of up to 25 degree Celsius. After high pressureprocessing, the coconut shell can be removed using any available meansto provide de-shelled coconut meat with coconut water intact.

After HPP treatment, the shell of the young coconut can then be eithereasily manually or semi-automatically de-shelled using a high-speedindustrial cut-off tool, completely recovering the young coconut meatwith water intact from the shell, thereby increasing the processingefficiency and product yield. After complete extraction, the coconutmeat containing water will either be vacuum packed or packaged in acontainer and refrigerated between 2 to 4 degrees Celsius.

In another embodiment of the present invention, PUV or PulsedUltraViolet sterilization, an alternative to the previously discussedform of sterilization is utilized, as the FDA has endorsed UV for foodpasteurization.

In this embodiment, the method of the present invention teaches using aPUV sterilization system to achieve 5-log reduction. The partiallyde-shelled/partially husked/semi-husked or fully de-shelled coconutmeat-containing coconut water, refrigerated or ambient temperature,unpacked or polypropelene/nylon/polyetylene(PP/NY/PET) vacuum-packed ismanually passed or fed to a conveyor individually where a fullyautomated pulsed UV dose is applied, 1 to 20 by pulse bursts, withselected pulsed energy of 100-500 J, pulse repetition rates of 1 to 5Hz, preferably 3 Hz to achieve a 5-log reduction.

Thus, it is appreciated that the optimum dimensional relationships forthe parts of the invention, to include variation in size, materials,shape, form, function, and manner of operation, assembly and use, aredeemed readily apparent and obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art,and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawingsand described in the above description are intended to be encompassed bythe present invention.

Furthermore, other areas of art may benefit from this method andadjustments to the design are anticipated. Thus, the scope of theinvention should be determined by the appended claims and their legalequivalents, rather than by the examples given.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process for preparing a frozen coconut productin which coconut liquid endosperm is frozen within a coconut solidendosperm, the process comprising: obtaining at least one raw youngcoconut at about 9 months to about 10 months in age; removing an outerexocarp layer and a middle mesocarp layer from the at least one rawyoung coconut to expose a shell endocarp layer of the at least one rawyoung coconut, the shell endocarp layer enclosing the coconut solidendosperm; carving the coconut solid endosperm from the shell endocarplayer of the at least one raw young coconut, the coconut liquidendosperm within the coconut solid endosperm; washing the coconut solidendosperm; pasteurizing the coconut solid endosperm; blast freezing thecoconut solid endosperm such that the coconut liquid endosperm freezeswithin the coconut solid endosperm to form the frozen coconut product;packaging and sealing the frozen coconut product; and cold storing thefrozen coconut product.
 2. The process for preparing a frozen coconutproduct according to claim 1, wherein carving the coconut solidendosperm from the shell endocarp layer of the at least one raw youngcoconut is carried out using an alpha-keratin buffalo horn.
 3. Theprocess for preparing a frozen coconut product according to claim 1,wherein washing the coconut solid endosperm includes rinsing the coconutsolid endosperm in cold running water.
 4. The process for preparing afrozen coconut product according to claim 1, wherein pasteurizing thecoconut solid endosperm includes blanching a surface of the coconutsolid endosperm.
 5. The process for preparing a frozen coconut productaccording to claim 1, wherein blast freezing the coconut solid endospermincludes: placing the coconut solid endosperm in a perforated blastfreezing tray in a blast freezer; securing a door of the blast freezer;setting temperature at about −35° C.; activating an internal fan in theblast freezer at a speed of about 3 meters per second; and blastfreezing the coconut solid endosperm for about 25 minutes.
 6. Theprocess for preparing a frozen coconut product according to claim 1,wherein storing the frozen coconut product is carried out using astandard mechanical freezer at a temperature ranging from about −25° C.to about −20° C.
 7. A frozen coconut product prepared according to theprocess of claim 1.